Know Him

Proverbs 15 — Mission City Challenge

11 Even Death and Destruction[b] hold no secrets from the Lord.How much more does he know the human heart! ~~ Proverbs 15:11

We all say and ready that God sees everything, I am not convinced we really believe that, if we did believe it we would surely live our lives a little different. It’s just kind of the “Christian” thing to say and believe. Truth is we act out what we believe.

Here this one little scripture says “even death and destruction hold no secrets…..” God sees everything in this world, he sees the wrongs, the injustice, the wars, the crimes, He sees the financial situations in this world, He sees when it seems like all is falling apart. He sees it all and he cares deeply but he did not send his son Jesus to die for the world, he sent him to die for YOU and ME!

If he sees ALL think how much more he sees our heart? And out of our hearts flow the issues of life…. our thinking, our actions, our choices, our love, and our hate. I often say I’m so thankful I’m not God because I judge what I can see…..just as we all do.

People are very quick to say “don’t judge me” Or “Only God can judge me” — I would like to bring some clarity to this mindset. Especially when it comes to brothers and sisters in the Lord. We can judge you just as you can judge me. We judge the fruit we produce, we judge the actions of ones life. WE DO NOT judge you to heaven or Hell — that is God’s judgment, not man’s.

To keep God’s commands, we must first judge what is right and what is wrong. For example, 1 Cor. 5:11-13 say, “… you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked man from among you’“. In these verses, God tells us to judge church members and expel them if necessary. Then we are told in Rom. 12:9, “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good”. How can we do that if we don’t first judge what is good and what is evil? So, we must make judgments about what is right and what is wrong so that we can live according to God’s commands.

Even though people will tell us that we should not judge, the Bible makes it clear that we should. The following examples show where the Apostles exposed error:
a) Paul named and spoke against certain men in 2 Tim. 2:16-17, 2 Tim. 4:14-15 and 1 Tim. 1:19-20.
b) John named a man who was in error in 3 John 1:9-10.
c) Paul publicly corrected Peter, a fellow Apostle, in Galatians 2:11-14.
d) Leaders caught in false teaching or immorality are to be rebuked publicly as 1 Tim. 5:20 says.
e) Christians who won’t repent must be removed from the church – Matt. 18:15-17.
These examples make it clear that we must judge and publicly expose error and, if necessary, discipline those who are in sin. The salvation of souls and purity of the church depends on this.

There is a lot of peer pressure telling us not to judge and not to speak against false teachings even when it is known that souls are being misled. People will say, “We must not judge” or “Let’s keep the peace and unity”. However, if we don’t show people their error then they may end up in hell. Jesus told us clearly in Matt. 24:10-11 that during the end times “many will turn away from the faith… and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people”. This is happening right before our eyes and are we silent?

I want to end with this… ONLY PEOPLE WHO ARE WALKING WITH THE LORD, FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT CAN STAND IN THESE SHOES. Judgment is so EASY to throw around, walk in humility and most of all in LOVE